. M A S T E R. B I M M E R F E S T. C A R A V A N.

I don't think that would be a problem. I just hope that they work with the frequencies that are going to be used. I will meet up with you tomorrow morning at the IE meeting point and we'll see what we can do.

We will be using my frequency (what ever i use lol) leaders choice right jk lol. well if i can borrow one i can see if people can lock in to what ever i use so i can at least warn people behind me if chp etc.

Originally Posted by smilez

We will be using my frequency (what ever i use lol) leaders choice right jk lol. well if i can borrow one i can see if people can lock in to what ever i use so i can at least warn people behind me if chp etc.

well speaking of CHP, i just got rolled... aint that some S*%!

the frequency that we will use is VHF, and we will have one ready for you in the morning. Most of the regular walkie talkies use GMRS, so they will most likely be out of luck. We will look for the most open channel today so that you can post the channel that will be used.

Originally Posted by RaDs330

well speaking of CHP, i just got rolled... aint that some S*%!

What happened?

Originally Posted by RaDs330

well speaking of CHP, i just got rolled... aint that some S*%!

I got rolled today too dude. Luckily enough I grabbed a video of him for evidence! http://www.geocities.com/user?=finkle/chpofficer.mov

huntington beach cops are pretty wacked... he said I was doing 70 in a 45, and the whole time my speedometer was reading 50, i may have been doing 55 at the max...

when i told him that i was going 50 he said that i should pay attention to my RPMs, he said when there are changing quick and going higher that means im speeding... all I can say to that guy is "wow and he went to school for what now????"

Originally Posted by finkle

I got rolled today too dude. Luckily enough I grabbed a video of him for evidence! http://www.geocities.com/user?=finkle/chpofficer.mov

this dude was on a bike

that's outrageous

Originally Posted by finkle

I got rolled today too dude. Luckily enough I grabbed a video of him for evidence! http://www.geocities.com/user?=finkle/chpofficer.mov

D'oh!

man your telling me and i got pulled over

On the real though, that's lame man. Cops can be real morons sometimes. The last guy that pulled me over stood there for 5 minutes explaining exactly how his laser detector worked and just how many people he had nabbed that day. Just give me the damn ticket and let me be on my way! I'm doing the court route on the off chance he doesn't show up for the hearing. *fingers crossed*

Originally Posted by RaDs330

when i told him that i was going 50 he said that i should pay attention to my RPMs, he said when there are changing quick and going higher that means im speeding... all I can say to that guy is "wow and he went to school for what now????"

That cop is quite an ***hole. Thinking you don't know how to operate a car? That's insane. Sorry to hear it. I'm amazed you were able to stay quiet when he said that.

INFO FOR SAN DIEGO:

1. YOU GUYS WILL BE TAKING THE 5 FWY NORTH

2. YOU GUYS WILL THEN MERGE TO 405 FWY NORTH

3. YOU GUYS WILL THEN TAKE THE "HARBOR BLVD" EXITS

4. RIGHT BEFORE THE ACTUAL "HARBOR" EXIT, YOU WILL SEE THE "SUSAN ST" EXIT

5. TAKE THE "SUSAN ST" EXIT AND THAT WILL PUT YOU RIGHT INTO IKEA, WHERE YOU WILL HAVE SOME RED HEADLIGHTS (ME) STARING AT YOU AND I WILL TAKE THINGS FROM THERE.

IF THERE ARE NO OBJECTIONS I WOULD LIKE FOR YOU GUYS TO ACTUALLY LEAVE EARLIER @ 5AM....IF THERE PLEASE LET ME KNOW WITHIN THE NEXT 45 MINUTES...

san diego, here is a map to give you an idea on when you exit for orange county
http://forum.e46fanatics.com/showthread.php?t=563727

Looks good, Harley.

The time is approaching...

Anyone checking before they leave the house?

If so, then good morning!

See you in a bit.

Originally Posted by Ed103

Anyone checking before they leave the house?

If so, then good morning!

See you in a bit.

I'm up and awake. Got about an hour's sleep. I think I will just get dressed now and troll the area for caffeine.

Bimmerfest was very, very cool. The caravan, however, definitely needs some work.

The turnout was exceptionally great. I heard that OC/SD had around 100 cars, but they didn't stay together on the drive up.

LA/IE had somewhere around 130 cars, which is more than I expected and I am thankful for everyone that came out. BUT, there were a couple big problems that definitely need to be stated and discussed for next time.

First of all, in case anyone didn't know, OC/SD hit traffic, which is why we didn't end up together. Sadly, these things happen and we have to adapt, which I mentioned when I first put up the LA info.

I don't think the site was too bad for Los Angeles. The space was nearly perfect, but we couldn't get cars out fast enough with the single driveway. Unfortunately the exit on Riverside Dr. that was planned for use was under construction. There was another though, through the parking structure that could have been used. Sadly we couldn't tell anyone about it because once 7 a.m. rolled around, a couple cars took off, and it snowballed from there, with more and more cars leaving. Before we could do anything, we lost 20 Bimmers, so we decided to send everyone.

Then once on the freeway, it was chaos. Granted, the freeway was very busy, but we had drivers that were easily going 90-100. If we want to "caravan" up there, the people on the freeway need to slow way down, because only so many cars can get on at once. Once together, THEN speed can pick up. I do appreciate the multiple times that people pulled over, in an effort to regroup. Sadly, the same thing happened when we left, with the heavy traffic, everyone was still separated and drivers still started out too fast. This idea wasn't too bad, because it gets 30-40 cars on the freeway in a line. Perhaps if the cars at the end start out, and go slow, it will give the cars in front time to get in the lanes. Or have cars slow down traffic. We could easily get 4-5 cars across the lanes literally slow down traffic. Hard, but with the right drivers, possible.

Another problem was the police. I saw four individual stops going up there, for 6 Bimmers and a Celica. That sucks. We did not want that to happen. Some of us got a little excessive with the speed.

I know there were clear issues with organization. Leaders need to make themselves known. Perhaps signs next time so people know who to listen to and where to get info. And also a megaphone, to talk to everyone at once. Those things might have helped.

These are the issues I saw, and how I think we might be able to solve them. Definitely post your opinions and we'll see how we can fix it next year.

Regardless though, thanks to everyone who came out, I hope everyone got to Bimmerfest and enjoyed it, since that was the point and I'm sorry to anyone who got pulled over.

yes i thought the caravan needs a lil bit more work . a slow regroup on the freeway would be a solution, people were going 90 miles when we all should of gone 70 at least .

Originally Posted by sk8erfox805

yes i thought the caravan needs a lil bit more work . a slow regroup on the freeway would be a solution, people were going 90 miles when we all should of gone 70 at least .

Yeah. I'm sure there's some kind of formula or a person could figure out the needed speed with math and distance and such. But basically, the last cars will probably be on the freeway 5 minutes after the first car. If the first cars go 70 mph, they'll be over 5 miles ahead. The last cars have to make up the five miles while the first cars continue going 70. If they go 100, it would take them 10 minutes to catch up, if the traffic is really clear. That just isn't going to happen.

I was thinking about this last night, and thinking of different things we could try. One idea is to have two leaders go very close to each other and get in neighboring lanes and really slow down. I'm talking like 55. That's moving, but it will be really slow. Non caravan traffic will go around. Then all cars that get on can more easily catch up, and when they do, they line up behind the leaders.

When the last cars are on, they contact the leaders, and the caravan can accelerate to 75 or 80. This would literally take like 10 minutes. Yesterday, I saw the first cars leave from LA, and I was one of the last cars out, and literally 7-10 minutes had passed.

I know it sounds dangerous, but if you saw the many times we tried to regroup, it's not so bad. We had Bimmers flying across four lanes and stopping on the shoulder, then waiting there for minutes, then individually cutting off big rigs and flowing traffic to get back on. That was pretty bad. I saw a lot of drivers having to brake really hard. With people going 55, it will slow down traffic, but not to a stop, and allow people to still go around, and if done in the same vicinity, the 101 has four lanes, and I believe the 405 has four as well, so there will still be two lanes for the rest of the traffic to use.

Later on this summer, I want to see if we can try this out on a smaller scale. Maybe get 25 cars and see how this works out. I'd like to know how traffic is impacted and how long it would take to get that many cars in a line. That would definitely help in the future. Maybe we can have a meet at the beach or something, and everyone can leave from a point. If you'd be up for that, let me know.

I will most definitely not be joining the caravan next year. There were so many people driving recklessly, and so many instances where we'd be going 70 mph, and suddenly, for whatever reason, traffic would abruptly come to a stop. So many people were following WAY too closely that cars would just end up swerving all over the place to avoid hitting each other. I witnessed a lot of very close calls, and was involved in one. There's really no way to control such a large group of people, so while I'm glad I managed to make it through this year's without incident, I will not be participating in next year's.

Unfortunatley, the caravan was not held togther because of reckless drivers. We start the caravan for one and one single point. to drive as [one], hence "caravan". for the guys that actually did stay in one single formation, i tip my hat to you for staying in a group, or a "caravan". the second that i got OC/SD onto the 405 fwy...i kid you not, right as i got into the freeway from the onramp, about 3 or 4 cars went past me at about 90+ MPH..., all the guys werent even out of IKEA parking lot when we got on, so i was going 60 MPH trying to wait for the rest of the guys to get even onto the freeway onramp....i'm not sure why people showed up to the caravan if they were not intending to conduct themselves accordingly. I apologize for any inconvenience to those that actually stayed in formation. I feel really bad to for the guys that actually drove from far distances to see the speedracers FVCK everything up.....the cops are most likely to stop little groups of guys going fast instead of ONE BIG GROUP going 65-70 MPH, please dont take this experience as a good one to not join in with the caravan next year.

***to those that DIDNT stay in the caravan : JUST DONT BOTHER SHOWING UP TO THE CARAVAN NEXT YEAR............SIMPLE.

I agree with Harley. There were obvious problems, but you have to take into account the fact that this is the first time that we leaders have done this. We tried to anticipate as much as we could, but we were learning too. And my posts stated what I took from this year's caravan and how I think we can make it better.

Like I've always said: Crap will happen and we have to adapt. There was traffic and construction. We adapted and got everyone there somehow. And also, I appreciate everyone who tried to reform on the freeway.

For those who took off and basically treated it like a race-That's cool too. I often do that when driving with friends. However, if that is really what they want to do, then they should probably meet with their team or group and go on their own. Let's be honest, when a car revs you up, you're gonna take them on. Racers need to be responsible and considerate and not disrupt the caravan.

Next year, I think will run smoother. I plan to help plan it again, because frankly, I want pictures of a good, long caravan and I didn't get them this year. Knowing what we know, we'll be better prepared.